Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. have suspended an obesity trial to investigate laboratory concerns stemming from a previous study.
The U.S.-based Amylin and Japan-based Takeda are mid-stage in a clinical trial studying the effects of pramlintide acetate, a supplement for the treatment of diabetes, and metreleptin, a recombinant form of human leptin, which is a hormone secreted by fat cells.
The companies stopped the study, which was in its second of three phases necessary for U.S. regulatory approval, after findings from two patients who had taken metreleptin in another obesity trial showed it loses effectiveness.